Sometimes the sound is the part you need: the audio from a lecture or webinar recording so you can listen on a walk, the voice track from an interview to send to a transcription service, a song you recorded at a rehearsal, or the voice-over from your own video to reuse in a podcast. This free audio extractor converts a video file to MP3 or WAV right in your browser. Choose a video from your phone or computer, optionally set a start and end time to keep only part of it, pick a format and quality, and download the audio. MP3 at 128 or 192 kbps is small and plays everywhere, from iPhones and Android phones to car stereos and Windows Media Player. WAV is uncompressed and lossless, the best choice if you're going to edit the audio in Audacity, GarageBand, Adobe Audition or a DAW. Unlike most "video to MP3" sites, your file is never uploaded: decoding uses your browser's own Web Audio engine, and MP3 encoding runs on your device. That makes it safe for private meetings, client calls and family videos. This tool works with video files you have. It doesn't fetch audio from YouTube, TikTok or other platforms, which their terms don't allow.
Extract audio from a video
Your file is processed on your own device by your browser. It is never uploaded to Botvana or any server, so it works for private clips and there is no file-size paywall.
How to convert a video to MP3
- Choose a video file. The tool reads its soundtrack and shows the length.
- Optional: type a start and end time to keep only part of it.
- Choose MP3 or WAV, and a quality.
- Tap Extract audio, preview the result in the player, then tap Download.
MP3 or WAV? Which quality?
| Setting | Size per minute (stereo) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 96 kbps | ≈ 0.7 MB | Lectures, meetings, voice notes (use mono) |
| MP3 128 kbps | ≈ 1 MB | Podcasts, general listening |
| MP3 192 kbps | ≈ 1.4 MB | Music, good default |
| MP3 320 kbps | ≈ 2.4 MB | Music you care about |
| WAV 16-bit 48 kHz | ≈ 11 MB | Editing, mastering, transcription accuracy |
One important point: converting can't add quality that isn't there. Phone videos usually store audio as AAC at about 128–256 kbps, so a 320 kbps MP3 from them won't sound better than 192 kbps, it'll just be bigger. If you're going to edit and re-export, use WAV so you don't stack two rounds of lossy compression.
Common uses
- Transcription. Services like Otter.ai, Rev, Descript and the transcription features in Google Docs, Microsoft Word and ChatGPT work faster with a small audio file than a huge video. Mono MP3 at 96 kbps is perfect for speech.
- Podcasts from video calls. Extract the audio from a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet recording you made, then edit it in Audacity.
- Study on the go. Turn recorded lectures into MP3s for your phone or car.
- Music practice. Pull the audio from a rehearsal video to share with your band, or loop a tricky section.
- Re-using your own voice-over from one video in another project.
How it works
When you choose a file, your browser's Web Audio API decodes the soundtrack into raw samples in memory, the same way it would to play it. The tool then cuts out the section you asked for and either writes those samples straight into a WAV file, or passes them to LAME, the well-known open-source MP3 encoder, compiled to JavaScript (the lamejs library, loaded from the jsDelivr CDN the first time you choose MP3). Nothing is sent anywhere. Because the whole soundtrack is decoded at once, very long files (over about an hour) need a lot of memory and may fail on older phones; on a laptop they're usually fine. Processing is much faster than real time, typically a few seconds per minute of audio.
A note on copyright
Extracting audio from your own videos, or from recordings you have permission to use, is fine. Ripping music or soundtracks from films, shows or other people's videos to share or reuse publicly usually isn't, even if you own a copy. Botvana doesn't provide tools to download audio from YouTube, TikTok, Spotify or other services.
Part of Botvana's free video toolkit
This page is one of seven free video tools that work together, all running in your browser with no account and no upload. A typical workflow for a creator looks like this: trim the slow intro off your clip with the video trimmer, reframe it to 9:16 with the video resizer, shrink it for sharing with the video compressor, turn the best two seconds into a looping preview with the video to GIF converter, pull the voice track out for a podcast or transcript with the audio extractor, and plan the upload with the tag and title generator. Bookmark the free tools page to find them all in one place.
FAQ
Can I convert MP4 to MP3 on iPhone?
Yes. Open this page in Safari, choose the video from Photos or Files, pick MP3 and download. The file goes to your Downloads folder in the Files app.
Can it convert a YouTube link to MP3?
No. It only works with files on your device. Downloading audio from YouTube breaks its Terms of Service. YouTube Premium offers offline listening.
Why does it say the audio can’t be decoded?
Your browser can’t read that file’s audio codec (some MKV, AVI or HEVC-with-AC3 files). Try Chrome, or convert the file to a standard MP4 first.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed limit, but very long files need a lot of memory. Up to an hour usually works on laptops and recent phones.
Is my file uploaded?
No. Everything happens in your browser.
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